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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25928098">Bend and Break</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22'>Wolfcry22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Fluff and Angst, Gay Rights, Homophobia, Hurt Richie Tozier, Hurt/Comfort, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Minor Injuries, Nosebleeds, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Protective Eddie Kaspbrak, Protective Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:41:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25928098</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolfcry22/pseuds/Wolfcry22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A peaceful night out for Richie and Eddie can’t stay that way when a patron at the bar begins acting homophobic toward them. That is something that Richie just won’t tolerate.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bi Bi Bi. (And everything else), Reddie at its finest</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bend and Break</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was a story that really stretched me. I wanted to make it seem genuine while also drawing on scenarios that do happen even now. In this story there is referenced homophobia, strong language (Richie is called Trashmouth fo a reason), and violence in the form of a nosebleed. It could be triggering for some so please be warned. I hope that you guys all enjoy and feel just as protective of this couple as I do.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Eddie and Richie are at a bar, someone says something about the two and Richie steps in to defend them. One punch later and the two may have new waters to navigate.</p><p> </p><p>    Richie clinked his bottle of beer against Eddie’s, eyes glowing in excitement. “Wasn’t this much better than watching the game at home,” Richie questioned.</p><p>    Eddie looked down shyly, twisting his wedding band around his ring finger. “I suppose so. I didn’t even think that you cared much for football?”</p><p>    Richie shrugged. “It gets us out and gives me an excuse for a date night. I’d say that is reason enough to come out to the bar.” </p><p>    Eddie smirked, leaning forward on the stool that he found himself on. His hand brushed gingerly against his mouth, a strange and mischievous glint in his eyes. “Date night, huh? Not exactly what I had in mind.” He reached out with his free hand and flicked the basket of peanuts and pretzels their bartender had brought them. “How about next time I pick?”</p><p>    “I think that I’d be okay with that.” Richie chuckled, eyebrows raised. “On one condition.”</p><p>    “And what would that be?”</p><p>    “You know.”</p><p>    Eddie leaned forward with Richie doing the same. Their lips met passionately, fading to a soft and waning kiss. Richie’s fingers stroked Eddie’s cheek while Eddie reached around to the back of Richie’s head, fingers threaded through the scruffy hair at the back of his neck. The kiss momentarily deepened until Richie heard a snort of disgust from behind him.</p><p>    Breaking off from the kiss, Richie swiveled around to see four guys at the end of the bar. All four of them sported numerous tattoos and they were larger men with rippling arm muscles and thick beards around their faces. The one that had scoffed at them had two empty glasses of beer in front of him and was quickly finishing a third. His green eyes glittered in malice as a scowl showed on his face.</p><p>    “Fucking disgusting.”</p><p>    “What did you say,” Richie called fiercely.</p><p>    The man that had spoke slammed his glass of beer down. “You heard me.”</p><p>    Anger burned in Richie’s stomach as his hands clutched into fists at his sides, pulling at his jeans. Fire burned in his veins and he saw red in front of him.</p><p>    Eddie had known this look on Richie’s face before and knew that it couldn’t end well. He reached out to loop his hand around Richie’s arm. “Come on, Rich. Let’s just enjoy the game,” he pleaded.</p><p>    Richie pushed him off. “No! We have as much right to be here and act like anyone else. So what if a few narrow minded assholes are bothered by it?” Richie jaw clenched in visible frustration. “They don’t control us.”</p><p>    The man laughed, quickly swallowing the last few gulps of beer. He wiped the back of his hand against his mouth and burped loudly. “I had no idea they allowed fairies.”</p><p>    “What did you just call me?!”</p><p>    Richie was on his feet in an instant, kicking his barstool over. The bar wasn’t overly crowded on a Thursday night, but the patrons that were there swiveled in their seats to look at the frantic display that Richie was making.</p><p>    Eddie was on his feet too when the man stormed over to Richie. Eddie grabbed at Richie’s hand and began to pull him. “It’s not worth it. Let’s just pay and go somewhere else.”</p><p>    Richie easily tore from Eddie’s grasp and stomped right up to the man. He was taller than Richie with hatred glowing in his furious green eyes. He wore a biker’s jacket and had huge hangs with bruised knuckles. He clearly wasn’t a stranger to physical altercations.</p><p>    “Did I hurt your feelings, princess,” the man growled, deep and low in the back of his throat.</p><p>    Richie stood unwavering. “Fuck you.”</p><p>    With a sickening crunch the man’s fist collided with Richie’s face. The glasses fell from his face as Richie fell backwards, hitting the ground hard on his back and head nearly colliding with his fallen barstool. </p><p>    Eddie let out a yelp of terror and crouched at his husband’s side. He gripped Richie’s shoulder and began to shake it. “Richie? Rich!”</p><p>    “Hey!”</p><p>    Eddie looked up to see Marv, the owner of the bar, come around and point toward the door fiercely. “I will not tolerate any derogatory comments or physical altercations in my bar. You need to leave, now!”</p><p>    The biker clearly thought about arguing as he squared up to Marv. However, Marv used to be a body builder and still had that build. No one would be foolish enough to try to take Marv on even at his worst day. Eddie had seen Marv drag out plenty of customers who became too rowdy without a struggle. He could certainly take on this biker and his friends if he wanted to.</p><p>    “Fine,” the biker spat, motioning to his friends. “This place blows anyway.” He stormed out with this friends following. The last one stopped to tip a table over, causing those that were eating there to scoot away fearfully. </p><p>    Marv waved to the patrons. “I’ll remake all of your meals and throw in a free order of mozzarella sticks on the house,” he told them.</p><p>    The husband and wife dipped their heads in appreciation, beginning to lift the table with a help of two servers. </p><p>    Eddie’s attention, however, was on the dazed Richie that laid beside him. His eyes were rolling around in his head and blood was gushing from his nose.</p><p>    “Richie,” Eddie whimpered, fear overwhelming him. He reached over and grabbed Richie’s glasses, tucking them close to his chest.</p><p>    Luckily, Marv rushed forward and crouched beside the dazed man. “C’mon, Rich. We gotta get you sitting up.” Marv pushed on Richie’s back while Eddie stood in front of him and took his arms. The two of them were able to force him into a sitting position.</p><p>    Marv tapped on Richie’s cheeks. It didn’t take long for Richie’s eyes to focus on the brute of a man in front of him.</p><p>    “That’s what I like to see,” Marv rumbled. He turned to Eddie with horror on his face. “I am so sorry about that. I was in the back getting fresh mugs and—“</p><p>    Eddie waved him off gratefully. “It’s not your fault. There are homophobic people everywhere. You can’t control everyone who comes in here.”</p><p>    Marv grumbled under his breath. “Perhaps, but I still feel responsible. My sign out front says ‘all are welcome’. Clearly someone didn’t believe me when I put that up.”</p><p>    Eddie forced a small laugh. “It’s not you fault. Besides, Richie’s tough. He’ll bounce back.”</p><p>    “Do you want to go to the station to file a report?”</p><p>    Just the thought of walking into a crowded police station and telling an officer that Richie had been punched after a biker had called him a derogatory name wasn’t on the top of the list of things Eddie wanted to do. Even if he got lucky and received a sympathetic officer, he could practically feel the judgmental gaze of everyone in the precinct and in the courtroom, if it even got that far. As much as Eddie hated what had happened, he wasn’t sure that he was strong enough to go through that.</p><p>    Embarrassment pulsed through Eddie as he leaned over, gripping Richie’s shoulder firmly. “Thanks, Marv, but I don’t think I can,” he muttered into his chest.</p><p>    Marv reached out and rested a hand on Eddie’ shoulder. “It’s alright, man. I completely understand. These things aren’t easy, trust me. But, know that you’re always welcome here. That’s why I opened this place.”</p><p>    Eddie had talked to Marv a couple times since they came here regularly, but he didn’t exactly know his whole story. “What do you mean?” He shifted to take Richie’s weight, aware that he was still struggling to hold his head up as blood flowed from his nose. </p><p>    Marv noticed and reached up to grab a wad of napkins. He passed them to Eddie and Eddie pressed them against Richie’s nose in an attempt to quell the flow of blood.</p><p>    “I used to work at a bar down the street. Then a couple coworkers of mine overheard me on the phone telling my mom that I was asexual. They gave me so much grief for it and told the rest of the employees that there was something wrong with me. I tried to explain what being asexual means, but they didn’t want to hear it. All they could do was shoot off jokes and haze me for it. That’s when I decided to come here and make a space that was safe for everyone. It breaks me when I see that it’s not always the case.”</p><p>    Eddie gave Marv a timid smile. “It’s not you fault, Marv. You can’t always tell who’s going to walk in here and act like a dick.”</p><p>    Richie suddenly gave a sputtering cough, lifting his hands to clutch at his face. “Hurts,” he rasped, voice thick and stuffy thanks to his bleeding nose.</p><p>    Marv exchanged a worried glance with Eddie. “Do you need help getting him to the bathroom? That may be the best place to get some privacy,” he suggested.</p><p>    Although Richie was fairly solid, this was something that Eddie needed to help with on his own. He gave Marv a respectful wave. “Thanks, but I think that I can manage.” He pulled the blood soaked napkins from Richie’s face and set them on the bar top.</p><p>    Eddie lifted Eddie’s right arm and draped it over his shoulders. He tightened his other arm around Richie’s waist and hoisted both of them from the floor. Richie’s feet struggled to find solid ground, tiptoeing over to the bathroom, struggling under the weight. Eddie half led, half drug over to the small bathroom that barely fit two people. He forced himself and Richie in, closing the door behind him and locking it while flicking on the lights.</p><p>    Richie winced, eyes blinking almost robotically. “Fuck,” he sputtered.</p><p>    “You can say that again.” Eddie set Richie down on the closed toilet seat. He tried not to shudder at he looked at the state of the bathroom. There was black fuzz in the corners of the room and it smelled dank. Eddie just hoped that the kitchen was cleaner than the bathroom was. It made Eddie want to rush out of there and take a shower to scrub his skin raw to clean any potential infection and residue from his body. However, Richie wasn’t in any condition to run anywhere.</p><p>    Richie lifted a hand to touch his nose, only to recoil at the jolt of pain that flashed through him. “What the hell,” he mumbled, head threatening to dip forward.</p><p>    Eddie immediately fell into nurse mode and rushed over to grab a handful of toilet paper. He pressed it against Richie’s nose, clamping it shut. “Lean forward,” Eddie instructed. “I don’t want you to swallow all that blood. It may make you vomit.”</p><p>    “Lucky me,” Richie grunted, pitched forward with the toilet paper beginning to soak through.</p><p>    Eddie was ready with another bundle, trading them for the wilted ones. Eddie repositioned Richie’s hand so that he had a better grip. It may have stemmed the blood for the time being, but it didn’t help with the overall throb and numbness that Richie felt at the same time. The force of the punch had caught him off guard and he was still trying to wrap around his mind over what had happened.</p><p>    Eddie headed over to the sink and turned the knob, attempting to bring the water the coldest it could go. He cupped his hands under the spray and splashed it into his face. Shivering as the cold water ran down his skin, Eddie stole a glance over at Richie. He was still leaning forward and trying to stop his nose from leaking even more blood.</p><p>    After a few more splashes, Eddie straightened and walked over to Richie. “How are you doing,” he questioned.</p><p>    Richie peeled his eyes open. “How do you think?”</p><p>    “Rich, how could you have been so stupid,” Eddie muttered under his breath, beginning to pace around the room as he shook out his hands, anger flaring through him and replacing the fear that he originally possessed. </p><p>    “What are you talking about?” Richie attempted to see if his nose was still bleeding and peeled his fingers from his nose only to find that his nose wasn’t as done bleeding as he thought.</p><p>    Eddie stifled a sigh as he walked back over. He took Richie’s hand in his own and helped him readjust the toilet paper so that it was secure. He used his other hand to pull Richie’s head toward his so that it was pressed against his stomach. Eddie played with Richie’s hair on top of his head and moved his hair from his sweaty forehead. </p><p>    “That just was a grade A dick. There’s no going around that, but you didn’t have to say anything,” Eddie whispered harshly.</p><p>    Richie’s eyes flashed in determination. “No one is going to make me feel that I don’t have the same rights as everyone else. He shouldn’t have talked to us like that!”</p><p>    Eddie frowned. “I know, Rich, but I don’t want to see you getting hurt. He could’ve broken your nose, or jaw, or fractured your skull that could cause a hematoma and—“</p><p>    “Eddie,” began Richie sternly.</p><p>    Eddie blinked his eyes to clear his thoughts. His fingers continued down Richie’s face until they stroked his cheek. “I’m just saying that I can’t loose you. Sometimes you need to let these things roll off your back.”</p><p>    “Eds, I’ve experienced this for years even before I came out. I’d love to be able to ignore it like you can, but I just can’t. A little bloody nose is worth it if I knew that I stood up for us and our rights.” Richie buried his head deeper in Eddie’s stomach. All this talking was aggravating his bloody nose and making it tickle. The last thing that Richie wanted to do was sneeze while his nose was bleeding.</p><p>    Eddie sighed once more. “I know. I know. You were just trying to defend us. I just don’t want you getting hurt. I love you, Richie. I can’t loose you.”</p><p>    Richie reached up his free hand and took Eddie’s, which was still brushing his cheek. Eddie looked down just as Richie looked up, hand still clamped over his nose. “I love you too, Eddie. Maybe next time I’ll let Marv handle it. He did a pretty good job while I was laying flat on my ass.”</p><p>    Eddie snickered in amusement. “You can say that again.” He leaned down and kissed the top of Richie’s head. “What am I going to do with you?”</p><p>    “Take me home and fix me up, Dr. K,” Richie requested, slightly releasing the pressure from his nose.</p><p>    Eddie couldn’t help but smirk as he leaned down and kissed the bridge of Richie’s nose. “Alright, Trashmouth. Let’s get you home.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It’s unfortunate that these things can still happen. This story was a different one for me and I enjoyed taking these characters here. I can see this happening with Richie trying to defend himself and Eddie and Eddie being almost too stunned to do anything until he needs to take care of Richie. I hope I kept their characterization as close as their portrayal in the book and movie as possible. I hope that you guys enjoyed this and are staying safe and healthy!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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